Mildura - Swan Hill - Broken Hill - Robinvale-Euston - Wentworth - The Mallee
News
Baring all for charity pays off
Fri, 31 Jul 2015 11:41:00
A bold move by Mildura Base Hospital’s Cancer Care Team to “bare all for charity” has paid off handsomely for Sunraysia Cancer Resources.
Creating an “In the Flesh” calendar was the idea of Clinical Nurse Specialist Kaye Surgey and was the subject of banter for eight years before the team “took the plunge” late last year.
“We had been putting it off, basically because we all wanted to lose some weight!” explains Kaye. “But we had a really good team at the time and we thought it would be a great bonding opportunity because there would be nowhere to hide!”
Kaye said the project required the support of a large number of people, not least of whom were the photography subjects.
“It was fantastic to get such great cooperation from so many people. No one hesitated – there were 20 staff who were happy to share their bodies, including the chemotherapy day unit staff, palliative care nurses and a social worker,” Kaye said.
“But we were also lucky that local photographer Stacey Solomon was generous enough to volunteer her time and many other people were prepared to encourage us along and help pull it all together in a very short timeframe.”
But Kaye said the biggest reward was in the community support.
“People were fantastic – I think they felt if we were prepared to put our bodies out there, then we deserved their backing!
“In the end we raised $9670 from calendar sales, and Mildura Base Hospital-Ramsay Healthcare contributed another $330 to bring the tally to $10,000,” Kaye said.
Sunraysia Cancer Resources is a local, not-for-profit organisation providing information and support to people and families after a cancer diagnosis, including travel assistance for people undergoing treatment outside the region.
“Travel support is one of the major financial services, but there are so many other forms of assistance the service provides too. Perhaps a wig, help with the cost of winter heating, the cost of phone bills – all those expenses are additional or increased when someone has cancer,” Kaye said.
“Doing the calendar was such a fun experience for us, but we’re thrilled to reach that great financial goal, because through the great work of Sunraysia Cancer Resources it will make a real difference to many of the people we meet through our work.”
“We had been putting it off, basically because we all wanted to lose some weight!” explains Kaye. “But we had a really good team at the time and we thought it would be a great bonding opportunity because there would be nowhere to hide!”
Kaye said the project required the support of a large number of people, not least of whom were the photography subjects.
“It was fantastic to get such great cooperation from so many people. No one hesitated – there were 20 staff who were happy to share their bodies, including the chemotherapy day unit staff, palliative care nurses and a social worker,” Kaye said.
“But we were also lucky that local photographer Stacey Solomon was generous enough to volunteer her time and many other people were prepared to encourage us along and help pull it all together in a very short timeframe.”
But Kaye said the biggest reward was in the community support.
“People were fantastic – I think they felt if we were prepared to put our bodies out there, then we deserved their backing!
“In the end we raised $9670 from calendar sales, and Mildura Base Hospital-Ramsay Healthcare contributed another $330 to bring the tally to $10,000,” Kaye said.
Sunraysia Cancer Resources is a local, not-for-profit organisation providing information and support to people and families after a cancer diagnosis, including travel assistance for people undergoing treatment outside the region.
“Travel support is one of the major financial services, but there are so many other forms of assistance the service provides too. Perhaps a wig, help with the cost of winter heating, the cost of phone bills – all those expenses are additional or increased when someone has cancer,” Kaye said.
“Doing the calendar was such a fun experience for us, but we’re thrilled to reach that great financial goal, because through the great work of Sunraysia Cancer Resources it will make a real difference to many of the people we meet through our work.”